1. Technical Field
The invention relates to the field of data storage and management. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and system for managing digital assets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
During the ordinary course of downloading, saving, and retrieving digital data on a device such as a personal computer, a user is regularly faced with the challenge of how to store newly acquired data in such a manner that the user can most effectively access such data in the future. Over time, as the user progressively accumulates more data on the computer, the difficulty in organizing data storage can become increasingly acute.
For example, a user may have a collection of digital images stored on the computer. If the user organizes the images into a separate folder devoted exclusively to digital photographs and other images the user eliminates the aggravation of having to sort through music files or text files to find a desired digital image. However, as the collection of images grows it becomes increasingly burdensome to organize the storage of files in such a manner that the user can quickly and efficiently access images of interest.
One storage strategy the user might employ is to create folders organized according to user-assigned criteria, such as by source, date, or subject matter. One benefit of this approach is that the organization makes sense to the user because he dictated the underlying criteria. One downside, however, is that creating and maintaining folders in this manner is a labor-intensive practice. Furthermore, as the number of different folders increases, the organizational complexity can hinder the rapid acquisition of a desired image. This organizational strategy is also relatively inflexible. If the user decides to change the organizational criteria for the folders, then all of the original organizational efforts must be duplicated using new criteria.
Another storage strategy is to organize all of the digital images by date of creation. Storage by date of creation can be accomplished automatically without requiring the user to organize the storage manually. Furthermore, no matter how many images are stored, the organization of the stored images is relatively simple. However, as the number of images grows, it becomes increasingly laborious for the user to access a desired image, especially if the user cannot recall its creation date. Also, the date of creation might not have any correlation to the value or desirability of an image to the user.
What is needed is a method and a system for managing digital assets that reflects the subjective worth of the digital assets to the user automatically, based on the user's manipulation of the digital assets.